


Essential as Sunlight

by DanelleSepthon



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, Connor Deserves Happiness, Feel-good, Gen, Not because he's hurt, This is just an excuse to write Connor getting nice things, Touch-Starved, the fluffiest fluff to ever fluff, vingette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-06-16 10:50:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15435456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanelleSepthon/pseuds/DanelleSepthon
Summary: "Did you know that human contact has been proven to boost the amounts of oxytocin and serotonin in the body?" Connor mumbled against the lieutenant's shoulder."Aw, shut up. You're ruining it."((A collection of crappy, short vingettes because I wanted to write something fluffy and stupid. Not hurt, only comfort. Enjoy))





	1. Goodbye

“Did you know that human contact has been proven to boost the amounts of oxytocin and serotonin in the body?” Connor mumbled against the lieutenant’s shoulder.

 

“Aw, shut up. You’re ruining it.” Hank hugged as he laid back on the couch, arms full of gangly android. It was a lazy kind of night and Hallmark was running a marathon of their ‘best’ classic flicks. In the past, such films would only have had only ironic value, but maybe he was growing sentimental in his old age. After a long week of hell at the DPD, there was nothing better than doing nothing.

 

Sumo sat on his bed, halfway into sleep. His place would normally be at the feet of either Hank or Connor, but under the circumstances, there wasn’t enough room. The old dog yawned and lay his head down on his paws.

 

“What’d you say about us taking Sumo to the park tomorrow?” He found his hand snaking into Connor’s hair. Hank’s hand caught on the LED lightly, watching it stray between blue and yellow.

 

“The weather report is clear for the weekend, though it maybe a bit cold for Sumo and yourself.” Connor was by no means light. He’d been laying on top of Hank’s chest for about an hour, head tucked under the lieutenant’s chin and his face buried away. After everything that happened with the revolution, Cyberlife, all that bullshit, Hank found himself quietly thanking whatever god there was that his kid was safe, tucked beneath a mountain of throw blankets.

 

“A little cold never bothered anyone,” Hank said. “We need a break anyway. Fowler’s been working us to the bone with all these new android cases. Seriously, you’d think now that you’re all considered alive they’d be considered normal cases or whatever.”

 

Connor lifted his head up, tilting it to the side. “I thought that we were taking a break now, though.”

 

“Jesus, Connor.” Followed by an affectionate hair ruffle. “We gotta teach you the benefits of relaxing. Seriously. Lounging around and being comfortable isn’t a luxury. You don’t have any serotonin or whatever pumping in your head, but chilling out is important, ya know? I’m not the posterboy for self-care in any sense, but even I know everyone needs to relax more than once a week.”

 

“I do know. Humans require rest often, as you call it, ‘r and r’, in order to properly recuperate their energy.” Hank groaned, tightening his arms a bit around him as he adjusted his position. “Androids do not require the same amount of down time, though I do find this sort of thing… pleasant.”

 

“Hmph, using me as a pillow is only ‘pleasant’?” He huffed. “Fuck you. I’m a damn cloud of comfort.”

 

“A bit lumpy, but otherwise yes.” Connor closed his eyes, LED flickering for a bit. His face always reminded Hank of a puppy, still trying to figure out how to move around in its own body.

 

It was really hard to imagine how he had ever seen Connor as anything less than human. It was immensely hard to imagine a time when Connor wasn’t. But it had only been a few months since Markus and Jericho had freed their people. Detroit had changed into a practically new city, still dirty and terribly prejudiced, but on quiet, lazy nights like that, it felt like a new Detroit.

 

Hank moved his hand to lay on Connor’s head, reaching over to turn off ‘A Prince for Christmas 2: The Royal Engagement’. “Son, I don’t care if you were a literal toaster. You need just as much ‘down time’ as me.”

 

“I appreciate the sentiment, but-”

 

“No, ‘buts’!” He covered the android’s mouth with a smirk. “I get that your still learning all of this ‘human’ crap, but comfort is as essential as sunlight. We have the time now. We’re gonna enjoy it. Got it?”

 

Before he could argue, though, Hank ordered the lights out and leaned back into the cushions. He pulled the blankets up a bit more, closing his own eyes. Connor seemed to take the hint and shifted to let his partner rest a bit more comfortably for the night.

 

The android detective really hadn’t ‘got it’ completely, but Connor trusted Hank’s judgement on matters of living a human existence better than his programming. As he drifted off, a hand shifted his head back into Hank’s cotton sweatshirt and he wondered if there was a name for the feeling.

 


	2. Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Connor have another brief reprieve.

 

  * _…_


  * …


  * Update Complete


  * ...


  * RK800 Start-Up Sequence Complete


  * ...


  * Powering on...



 

Connor blinked as he woke, staring up at the white plaster ceiling. He’d been laying on the couch on his back, hands at his sides, performing updates overnight. A blanket had was covering him that wasn’t there when he went under, though he had a good idea where it had come from.

“Well?” Hank was seated on the coffee table next to him. “Did the update take? How do you feel, son?”

The ability to eat had never seemed quite particularly appealing to Connor in the past, but Hank had been insistent that Kamski’s new update for all deviant androids would be ‘dank’, in his own words. Whatever that meant, he had personally paid for Connor to be installed with all the new software Elijah had designed to give androids more human features, like proper temperature sensitivity, programs that would enable fatigue and tiredness, and (most important, according to Hank) the ability to digest and process food. The physical components had been installed at the old Cyberlife building the day before. All it had taken was an update to enable the software.

This upgrade was the only logical reason Connor could think of that would explain why the coffee table was covered in boxes of cereal.

“I am… confused.” He looked up to Hank as he stood up, only to plop down next to the android.

Hank smiled and ruffled his hair playfully. “I went out to the store before you got up. I figured, it’s a Saturday morning. Why not treat you to your first bowl of cereal as a surprise, heh? Since we don’t know what kind of foods you like, I figured we could spend the day figuring your tastes out.”

Connor examined the cardboard boxes in front of him with a quick scan. All of them were nearly pure sugar, artificial flavorings, and strangely fluorescent colorings. They were fit for human consumption, sure but surely were very unhealthy for them.

“Just pick whatever one calls to you.” Hank leaned back into the couch. “Saturday mornings are the ideal time to down some sweets and watch trash tv, so go nuts, kid.”

By random choice, Connor’s first cereal was a mix of what he believed were dried marshmallows and sugared oat puffs. He… didn’t really enjoy them. “This is very unhealthy, though the sweetness does manage to mask some nutritional value. Very little, but some nonetheless. I understand why children enjoy it.”

“Only you can make Lucky Charms sound boring.” Since Hank had heard of the new upgrades Cyberlife were offering for newly freed deviants to enhance their humanity, he had been very clear and very expressive in his excitement to see Connor eat. He found his partner’s fascination with the idea a bit peculiar, but he had to admit that he  _ was  _ a bit curious. 

“Go for the Fruit Loops, next. Everyone likes Fruit Loops.”

As it turned out, Connor did not like Fruit Loops.

“I… dislike the texture, I think.” He places his spoon down in a colorful bowl partially filled with milk. “The flavor is fine but I believe I don’t enjoy them as a whole.”

Hank turned on a children’s cartoon, an older rerun of a show about an unnaturally shaped sponge living underwater with a strange collection of undersea friends. He leaned back into the couch and groaned. “Well, we have all day to find one you won’t give an in-depth negative review.”

Connor stopped, spoon still in his mouth as his led spun.

“...son?” The lieutenant sat up a bit, seeing his friend go silent.

“Thank you for this, Hank.” He turned around to give Hank a beaming smile. “I… know my inexperience in normal human can be… inconvenient at times for you. I really appreciate all that you do for me.”

Ever since that fateful day when he lost Cole, Hank hadn’t felt such an intense desire to protect another human being as he did when he looked at Connor know. The feeling was indescribable and the only way he could think to express it right then was to reach down and ruffle his son’s hair with a chuckle. He’d missed this.

**Author's Note:**

> This was garbage. Sorry.
> 
> https://www.patreon.com/danellesepthon


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